I have been discussing here with didi about how early abuse adversely affected my vision and my reading as a small boy. I still have some kind of a reading problem. Didi has given me permission to discuss this problem as it relates to her son.

I had independently come to the conclusion that abuse was the major contributing factor to the problem with my eyes: I was wall-eyed (medically called exotropia, a kind of strabismus). But apparently for other people it causes the opposite condition: cross-eyes (medically called esotropia, also a kind of strabismus).

I had trouble learning to read as a small boy. Then when I did learn to read, I was a painfully slow reader. I had trouble in sports because I couldn't accurately judge distance. I couldn't tell where the ball was in playing softball. Even in playing marbles (which we played when I was little) I couldn't judge distances well.

Didi, who frequents the MS Discussion site, has a small son who experienced abuse at the same age I did. He has the same kind of vision problem, except Didi is being careful to find experts to work with her son to solve these problems.

I wonder how common this is among young abuse survivors. It is probably not correctly diagosed most of the time. Hence the need to discuss it here.

Interestingly enough, although it is distressing, is the fact that the specialist working with Didi's son identified a problem that mimics dyslexia. It is not dyslexia because the problem resides in the eyes and control of the eye muscles. It is a false dyslexia.

This is very important because even most eye doctors don't recognize that these eye problems can be caused by abuse.

I had vision therapy for a bunch of years as an adult to straighten my eyes. Surgery was unsuccessful. I was told that it was impossible to have success with vision therapy as an adult. But that was incorrect. Vision therapy has been largely successful with me. It has astonished some of the doctors who were told in medical school or optometry school that this was impossible.

I have posted a picture of myself at age 4 before the abuse started. The picture is in the member's side. It is clear that my eyes were correctly aligned at that time.

Hello! I requested that my son's Dr. write a letter to the school to make them understand what he is going through. They mentioned putting him in "special" classes next year and I will not allow it because he does not have a learning issue, he has a VISION issue that is effecting his ability to learn. Let me know what you think...

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Following is the letter written by the specialist working with Didi's son. I quote this letter with Didi's permission.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Originally Posted By: Dr. Estelle Roberts

To Whom It May Concern:

Anonymous_boy was seen in my office for a visual-motor analysis and subsequently referred for a visual-perceptual examination and vision therapy.

His diagnoses include Accommodative Esotropia and Oculomotor Dysfunction. Either of these medical diagnoses, individually, would affect Anonymous_boy’s ability to obtain maximum academic achievement, and combined they potentially create problems in his ability to receive, process, and utilize visual information. Since 80% of learning that occurs during childhood is accomplished through the visual sense it is essential that you understand what he is experiencing and that you assist and support him in the classroom throughout his therapy program.

I can't say that my vision was affected by my abuse I don't think, although I was given glasses for a short while but when I grew out of them that was that, even to this day, I doubt it was caused by the abuse. I find this interesting though.

I'm just curious, how does the abuse cause this? Is it the high stress?

I was lucky, only my height was affected by my CSA (which cleared up at 19) and not my eyes - we'll never know whether this condition is more likely to manifest if the abuse is serial over time, as opposed to a one-off "drive-by".

The answer I think is not completely certain at this point. I have talked it over with my T and he suggests that maybe it has to do with the connection between the right and left halves of the brain (right and left cerebral hemispheres). These two halves are connected by a large bundle of connecting nerve fibers. The connection is called the corpus callosum.

We know that abuse has the ability to cause the brain to shut down the transmission of impulses in certain nerve fibers (they don't die, there is just a kind of roadblock implemented). This is the neurological cause of dissociation. So, if the transmission of impulses between the left and right hemispheres is impaired, the coordination of the left and right hemispheres is also impaired.

This impaired communication between the left and right cerebral hemispheres would have all kinds of implications including coordination of the eye muscles and the visual fields. It would also impair learning because the right hemisphere is concerned with visual and coordination interpretations. The left hemisphere is concerned with verbal intelligence. If they are not coordinated, then it is easy to postulate all kinds of learning effects.

Notice also, and not last or least in importance is the impairment of fine motor coordination involved in a child's learning to write and draw and play marbles, among other activities. Therapy would involve decreasing the burden of anxiety and fear connected with the abuse with counseling and psychotherapy, while giving remedial training to coordination of the eyes and hands. Learning to calm the effects of anxiety might help to decrease the effects of abuse that mimic HD and ADHD.

This is fascanting stuff.Where do you get your info from.Anxiety from abuse can induce effects that mimic hd and adhd.I suffered from learning disabilities early in school.I thought it was the result of neglect. But this opens a new can of worms for me.

Mike

_________________________
To own one's shadow is the highest moral act of a human.-Robert Johnson-

"IT ought never be forgotten that the past is the parent of the future" John C. Calhoun

This is fascanting stuff.Where do you get your info from.Anxiety from abuse can induce effects that mimic hd and adhd.I suffered from learning disabilities early in school.I thought it was the result of neglect. But this opens a new can of worms for me.

Mike

I have also had some of these problems as a result of abuse. I have taught human anatomy and physiology at the college level for 13 years. I have read books on the hemisphericity of the brain and I have worked very hard at vision therapy to repair my own visual processing.

It is well known that major difficulties in childhood such as deprivation or abuse can influence physical and mental health throughout life. Frequent attenders with stress-related complaints are known with a higher prevalence of childhood difficulties. During the busy consultation hours of GPs, there is usually not enough time to explore the patient's life story, and often patient and GP do not recognize the interrelations of difficulties in childhood with mental and physical health in later life. We aimed to determine, within the group of frequent attenders in general practice with stress-related complaints, the size of the subgroup with major difficulties in childhood, and the extent of the contribution of different types of childhood difficulties to medical, social and psychological variables. Those participating in the study were 403 patients, between the ages of 20 and 45 years, in 18 GP practices, who frequently visited their GP (>15 consultations in the previous 3 years) with more than four medically unexplained symptoms. The patients filled in a questionnaire on their complaints, quality of life, use of medication, number of referrals, disability, coping style, chronic difficulties, life events and difficulties in childhood. Childhood difficulties were divided into deprivation of parental care, emotional overburdening (bearing too large a responsibility in the family or parents having involved them a lot in their own problems), and traumatizing events (such as physical or sexual abuse). Medical problem lists were obtained from the Registration Network of Family Practices (RNH). The validity of the youth questionnaire was assessed with in-depth interviews in a subset of 75 patients. A majority of our frequent attenders reported difficulties in childhood: abuse (sexual and physical) as well as emotional overburdening related to gender (women more than men) and lower level of work. Patients with abuse and emotional overburdening had higher scores on lifetime somatization, a higher medical consumption, often had passive coping styles and listed more chronic difficulties in relationships. They also reported at present more physical and mental complaints (depressive and anxiety), a lower quality of life and a lower subjective health. Deprivation in childhood was not related to any of the variables in our study. Problems in childhood, such as abuse and emotional overburdening, are important contributing factors to somatization, medical consumption, mental health, coping style and chronic difficulties in relationships. In spite of our practical experience, we were struck by the frequency and consequences of unfavourable youth experiences in frequently visiting patients. We would like to get feedback on our presentation and to share experience on this subject with GPs in other countries.

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